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Springs Utilities investigating carbon monoxide leak

A man in his 50's is dead after a suspected carbon monoxide leak at the Vista Peak Apartments near the intersection of Academy Blvd. and Galley Rd. in Colorado Springs.

Firefighters broke down the door to the unit where the man was found unconscious, but did not reach him in time to be saved. A second man was found unconscious in the same unit; he was rushed to the hospital in critical condition.

Just before noon on Sunday emergency crews received multiple calls from residents complaining of headaches, noting that carbon monoxide monitors were sounding off in the building. When fire fighters arrived on scene they tested the air and found high readings of carbon monoxide gas.

Nine families were displaced-- some with children-- the apartment management is putting people up in a local hotel while the building is being worked on. Management is also checking furnaces in other buildings to check for malfunctions; officials believe a furnace may have been the source of the carbon monoxide gas in the building where the man died.

Utilities workers are trying to figure out what went wrong, attempting to re-create the problem to check if the monitors sounded off too late.

Officials received calls later in the evening reporting monitors sounding off in other buildings on the same property; News 5 is waiting on information to see if those calls were related to the utility workers' investigation.

Carbon monoxide is colorless and odorless and is produced by combistion. Officials are urging the pubilc to make sure homes have monitors and escape plans as many people will be turning on their furnaces for the first time in months as the weather grows cooler.